March 26, 2014

Review of "Those of the Cursed Light" in Heavy Metal Discipline Webzine (English)

This week I seem to be on a roll with the Bandcamp artists. A few days
ago I came across the Spanish black metal band Frozen Dawn and their
second album, “Those of the Cursed Light.” As with Crypt of Silence a
few days before, I saw Frozen Dawn on a list of new releases, I listened
to a song on YouTube, and immediately knew I wanted to hear more.

I followed my usual method of operations when trying to track down an
album. I first checked my email to see if I’d received a promo, then I
checked iTunes, Amazon, and finally my old stand-by, Bandcamp. More
often than not lately, Bandcamp ends up having an obscure band that I’m
looking for; I love that site. Aside from being able to find bands one
doesn’t find elsewhere, the cool thing about Bandcamp is that most of
the albums on there are priced a couple bucks below what you would pay
at someplace like iTunes.

I found Frozen Dawn on Bandcamp and
bought a copy of “Those of the Cursed Light.” As I began listening to
the album I got more and more excited. Sometimes when I hear a cool song
on YouTube the rest of the album can’t maintain the same level of
quality, but such was not the case with Frozen Dawn. Front to back
“Those of the Cursed Light” is a solid album full of old school style
black metal with a slightly progressive and modern production.

If I may borrow from the band’s bio page, I think it does a great job of
describing their sound: “Frozen Dawn is a Spanish band that performs a
cold old school black metal, in the style of the first black metal bands
that emerged during the 90s in Norway and Sweden. Its main influences
are bands like Satyricon, Dissection, Darkthrone, Dark Fortress, Watain
and Necrophobic.” I’m not as sure about the last few bands, but I really
hear the Satyricon and Dissection influence, and I’d like to think
maybe some Emperor as well in the guitar playing.

One of the
things I like so much about Frozen Dawn’s sound is that they utilize the
traditional thin and cold sounding black metal production that doesn’t
use much low end. As a result the songs have a sharp and cutting sound
that I, for one, enjoy very much. However, they do not sacrifice
production quality in attaining this sound; the songs are still very
clear and well mixed with a bright presence that makes up for a lack of
low-end punch. This takes the old school sound and gives it a cleaner
more modern sound and I whole-heartedly approve.

The harsh
vocal range doesn’t really vary all that much, which might be an issue
on a lesser release, but given how well the vocals slice through the
music, and the fact that they just sound really good, I don’t find this
to be a problem. The guitars are probably one of my favorite things
about this album; at times they use a very basic stripped-down 90s black
metal style, which I’ve always liked, but they also do lots of those
crazy fast melodic runs which are a staple of early black metal. Combine
that playing with a nice crisp, clear production sound and I am a happy
man.

“Those of the Cursed Light” makes me long for more albums
in this style. I was very, very impressed by this release, and when I
finished my first listen through, I went right back to Bandcamp and
picked up their 2011 first album, “The Old Prophecy of Winterland.” The
first album isn’t quite as polished as “Those of the Cursed Light” but
it is still far and away better than so many black metal albums I hear.
Do yourself a favor: head over to Bandcamp and pick up both these
albums. If you enjoy classic black metal you will not be disappointed.
Check out the video for the track “Circles of Frostbitten Ice.”